Mercury-4 is Cherry Audio's emulation of the Roland Jupiter-4, the rarest and quirkiest of the Jupiter family, for synthpop, new wave and Italo producers who want brash poly sounds and that famous arpeggiator.
The background
Cherry Audio modelled Mercury-4 on a Jupiter-4 that belonged to Greg Hawkes of The Cars and was played on their 1981 album Shake It Up. The original had four voices, limited patch memory and weighed a ton. Mercury-4 keeps the sound and drops the drawbacks, with 16-voice polyphony, unlimited preset storage, velocity sensitivity and MPE support.
The sound
Brighter and more forward than a Juno, with a resonant filter that gets aggressive quickly. Chords have a slightly wild edge, and the arpeggiator (including the random mode Jupiter-4 owners love) turns simple held chords into motion straight away. Cherry Audio has paired it with a model of a classic tape echo, which adds warmth, wobble and repeats without reaching for another plugin. It isn't the most refined poly you'll find, and that's the point: it has character in spades.
Features
Detailed Jupiter-4 emulation
Up to 16-voice polyphony
Arpeggiator including random mode
Built-in tape echo effect
Velocity sensitivity and MPE support
Preset favouriting and preset-level MIDI mapping
Over 400 presets
Full MIDI control and DAW automation
System requirements
Version: 1.6.0
Mac: macOS 10.13 or later, native on Apple Silicon. AU, VST2, VST3, AAX and standalone (64-bit)
Windows: Windows 7 or later, including Windows 11. VST2, VST3, AAX and standalone (64-bit)
